Flights of Fancy (American Heiresses, #1)

by Jen Turano

Miss Isadora Delafield may be an heiress, but her life is far from carefree. When her mother begins pressuring her to marry an elderly and uncouth duke, she escapes from the high society world she's always known and finds herself to be an unlikely candidate for a housekeeper position in rural Pennsylvania.

Mr. Ian MacKenzie is known for his savvy business sense and has built his reputation and fortune completely on his own merits. But when his adopted parents are in need of a new housekeeper and Isadora is thrown into his path, he's unexpectedly charmed by her unconventional manner.

Neither Isadora nor Ian expected to find the other so intriguing, but when mysterious incidents on the farm and the truth of Isadora's secret threaten those they love, they'll have to set aside everything they thought they wanted for a chance at happy-ever-after.

• ISBN10: 076423319X
• ISBN13: 9780764233197
• Publish Date: 1 January 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Bethany House Publishers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 370
• Language: English

Reviews

[cherryblossommj]

Originally posted on Creative Madness Mama.If you have been following my reviews in the Christian Historical Fiction genre for a while, you may have noticed that I do not have the time to read quite the quantity of books that I once had. Therefore, the quality of books I read is important to me. It has been a while that I have read a book that I found to be delightful from cover to cover and Jen Turano does not disappoint.

The characters are clever and the witty banter kept me amused and turning one page after another. Every single book that I have read from Jen make me excited to go back and read the ones I missed and eager to look forward to the ones to come next. Isadora and Ian have a creative and fun story with a flare of mystery. I'm very glad to have read this one and cannot wait for more.

This review was originally posted on Creative Madness Mama.

[phyllish]

Having come from a childhood of poverty, abuse, and neglect, Ian was determined to make something of himself. To become so well off and have security. He is well on the way as a respected, and even feared, attorney to the industrialists. Next, he feels that he just needs to marry a society woman to accomplish all that he set out to.

Isadora’s mother, Hester, had her heart set on Isadora marrying well. So when a duke showed interest in her, Hester was ecstatic and would brook no argument against the match. So Izzy did what any smart young society woman would do (not!) and ran away to (as she and her friend called it) the wilds of Pennsylvania.

Combining the ridiculous with the very real and serious plight of the steelworkers in the Gilded Age, Flights of Fancy explored the world of orphans and attorneys. Heiresses and hired hands. Selfishness and a servant’s heart.

The author clearly showed the issues that made the unions necessary at that time – the deplorable working conditions and attitudes of the owners towards their workers.

The image of Pittsburg’s smog being so thick it affected the visibility in an extreme way was fascinating – having grown up in Southern California at the time when smog alerts were not entirely uncommon, I still never experienced smog as terrible as that.

Flights of Fancy begins with a theme from The Taming of the Shrew, and while this was by no means a retelling of that story, the message of a selfish heart needing transformation was woven cleverly throughout the narrative. Thankfully, both Ian and Isadora, when confronted with their attitudes, were quick to seek to change.

It was fun picturing a society lady trying to make herself useful as a housekeeper, knowing she had no practical skills. The situations Izzy got herself into were comical as were the incidents with the orphans, the chickens (especially Elmer), and Buttercup the cow who thought herself to be a house guest.


I was given a copy of this book for free. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.